aka The Shade Tree Designer

2 shuttles wound continuous thread motion or needle and ball
Abbreviations:
R = ring
SR = split ring
CH= chain
+ = join
L J = lock join
vsp = very small picot
TOR = thrown off ring (coming off a chain)
note: please remember do not reverse work after thrown off or floating rings
(- or + ) = either a picot or a join
Clover = set pattern of rings
* = repeat
SS = switch shuttles
Center R 2 vsp 8 vsp 2 vsp 8 vsp 2 clr
R* 2 +(previous vsp) 8 vsp 2 vsp 8 vsp 2 clr
Repeat from * until 5 rings are completed
Split Ring 2 +( previous vsp) 8 vsp/2 + (vsp of first ring) 8 vsp 2 clr

Point CH **3 vsp 1 SS
(TOR 1 + (previous vsp) 8 vsp 1 clr) SS
CH 1 +(previous vsp) 2 vsp 1 SS
R 1 + (previous vsp)12 vsp 4 clr
R 4 + (previous vsp) 16 vsp 4 clr
R 4 + ( previous vsp) 12 vsp 1 clr SS
CH 1 +(previous vsp) 2 vsp 1 SS
(TOR 1 + (previous vsp) 8 vsp 1 clr ) SS
CH 1 + ( previous vsp) 3 L J to next vsp
CH 8 + to next vsp **
Repeat from ** until 6 points are complete.
CH 8 LJ to starting vsp finish off ends
© theshadetreedesignertatting@gmail.com
To review the floating ring:

To tat the floating or thrown off ring, you need two shuttles (or you need two needles or you must unthread and rethread the one needle.)
In this photo you can see two inward facing rings joined by a picot. After the first ring was tatted, the work was reversed. The chain was partially tatted. This is the point where the floating ring is to be placed. DO NOT REVERSE WORK. Use the second shuttle to tat the floating ring and close it. DO NOT REVERSE WORK. Return to the chain and finish it.
The repeat of the pattern begins by tatting another ring facing inward and join it to the same picot as the first two rings.
For the needle, either use two needles or unthread the needle after the first chains segment, wrap a ring and remove it from the needle. Rethread the needle and continue with the second half of the chain.

In this example, the last layer of this "onion ring" construction has five floating rings thrown off.
Here's the latest article from the Tatting site at BellaOnline.com.
Hanky corner Is it chemical lace? This type of machine-made lace was first heavily embroidered on a fabric background. Then the entire fabric is treated with a chemical which dissolved the fabric leaving only the "lace" behind.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art304835.asp
Please visit tatting.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Tatting. To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Tatting located here -
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=39
I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback! Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!
Georgia Seitz, Tatting Editor
http://tatting.bellaonline.com
One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com